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Topic Review (Newest First)

08-11-2013 02:25 PM

Andrew65

Re: Winter Moisture Control

Hey Tardis,

How did you fair for your first winter aboard?

Signed,
A soon to be liveaboard in Oslo, Norway that has enjoyed your thread

03-27-2013 09:54 AM

Thunderchild

Re: Winter Moisture Control

Thanks for the information all. I was just wondering about those types of heaters being used.

Just reading through this thread and I have not heard anyone mention the infra red heaters that are out. They are supposed to have a low energy draw and keep a place real warm. Has anyone here looked into them? I would be interested to hear how it worked out.

Heaters may vaporize any water into the air, but you need ventilation (fans exchanging air with the outside) or entrapment (dehumidifier, DampRid, etc.) to remove the water.

Heating up the moisture without removing it would probably make any mold/mildew problems worse, not better.

And as someone else said, electric heaters pretty much deliver the same BTUs that they draw from the electricity. Efficiency is about 100% whether it's radiant, natural convection, or forced convection. There is no "magic bullet" that delivers more BTUs than it takes in through the electrical outlet.

Just reading through this thread and I have not heard anyone mention the infra red heaters that are out. They are supposed to have a low energy draw and keep a place real warm. Has anyone here looked into them? I would be interested to hear how it worked out.

I have not seen any independent studies to show that the infrared are at all more efficient. Generally electric heaters are watts in and watts out, not much losses quite efficient. There is a big marketing gimmick used to make the some of the "Amish made" heaters, among others, but most of it is rubbish. Normal electric heaters are all almost 100% efficient, but electric is normally in limited supply, so that is the factor than the units themselves.

03-26-2013 02:56 PM

Thunderchild

Re: Winter Moisture Control

Just reading through this thread and I have not heard anyone mention the infra red heaters that are out. They are supposed to have a low energy draw and keep a place real warm. Has anyone here looked into them? I would be interested to hear how it worked out.

After reading this thread my wife and I pained over the solution of Hypervent or Froli. We thought that we might as well kill two birds with one stone and went with the Froli. Solve ventilation and comfort.

Huh, I'm not at all familiar with this product. Looks interesting. Please keep me updated on how it works out for you!

It's been a little while since I have posted on this thread, so FWIW, here is an update of TARDIS:

Now that the temps have dropped, I haven't been working as much as I would like on her. But I have been slowly removing ALL deck hardware and re-bedding with butyl tape. I have been dealing with a persistent leak in the v-berth. This one is a big concern for me as it is where I will sleep! I have re-bedded ALL of the deck hardware on the bow, including pulpit, toe rails, and spinnaker chock. The v-berth was dry after one rain, but last week we had three days of rain and now there is water again! Not as much, but still! Another leak I CAN NOT solve is in the main cabin. There is a lip that the backrests for my settees attach to. (you can see this in my gallery) What is happening is water is dripping from the screws that attach the back rests to this lip. I have re-bedded a toe rail in that area and stanchions.

Still on my to do list for winter projects is installing shore power, remove the captain's chair that is taking up EVERY inch of space in my little cockpit, and remove the Edson pedestal and wheel and install a traditional tiller.

Lots to keep me outta trouble

01-21-2013 10:50 PM

RealST

Re: Winter Moisture Control

well this was an excellent thread and I think it will save me from some critical mistakes when living aboard next year.

01-21-2013 05:41 PM

kellysails

Re: Winter Moisture Control

FWIW

After reading this thread my wife and I pained over the solution of Hypervent or Froli. We thought that we might as well kill two birds with one stone and went with the Froli. Solve ventilation and comfort.

Wow! Not only great ventilation but VERY comfortable. Well worth the extra $$$. We considered with the version quite a bit and went with the star system even though we have a Vee birth. On their website they recommend the smaller spring traveler version for Vee births. But when I called them they said the star version has taller springs and will work fine in a Vee birth, it did. They cost the same. We laid out the springs in a variety of ways but found the softest configuration the best.